Babs held up a hand, silencing the younger man behind her. She needed to gain her bearings in her own house, and while she knew Kyle was as shocked as she was she needed him to be as quiet as she was. She needed to concentrate.
Her eyes ran over the bottom floor of her home critically. Silence except for small footfalls coming from the second floor. Jake. Then that was where all the action had taken place. Babs kept her hand up, and kept looking. They were the only three in the house and upon figuring that out she let out a sigh of relief.
"Go find Batman." Babs looked back at him out of the corner of her eye. He'd been with her for the afternoon as she worked. He'd flown over Arkham for her, reporting back on the little he'd been able to see. Kyle knew what she expected. "Go. Tell him what's happened here. And then patrol. It's going to be all night."
"And you?"
She looked up at the ceiling. "Jake is upstairs." Meaning she would be too. Her fingers gripped the staff under the armrest of her chair.
Kyle simply nodded, suiting up as he did so. Very easy for him, Babs watched approvingly and when he took off, flying out of the open door, she frowned slightly. There was so much to do, so many out in the field tonight, and here she was at home. Because of Jack.
So fun to deal with break-ins when there was real work to be done. Babs sighed, and headed over to the elevator.
From: i_throwplates Date: 07/25/2006 18:28:00
Jake had been beyond relieved when Jack left the bedroom, using the same route he'd taken to get in. He hadn't been scared so much as repulsed by Jack, by the slippery, slimy feel of his mind, like poisoned daggers. Part of him regretted not shooting the man, but Babs had meant it when she said she didn't want him killing anyone. He didn't understand her reasoning, but it was a conversation they hadn’t had yet, to try and understand the world one another came from.
The alarm was still going off. Jake went to the control panel and looked at the number keys. He didn’t know the code. "My pump primes backward," he muttered, and left the panel alone. Technology tended to remind him of Blaine, and Blaine was a pain that was better left forgotten. Someone else would be along to shut the thing off. For now he did his best to ignore the noise.
Were the police coming? Or did the alarm signal someone else? After considering the possibilities, Jake locked up the guns again, not wanting to explain why Barbara Gordon would leave an eleven-year-old home alone with guns in his possession. A story like that would lead straight to social services (if this City even had something like that), and she'd be worried sick. He contented himself with his satchel of Rizas for now. Later on, he explain to Babs why there was a bullet hole in her floor. And why her clothing was scattered all over the room.
The thought of that made Jake frown. It would be hard enough telling her that the insane man had been here. But knowing, seeing that he'd gone through her clothing, that he'd touched everything, left his mark… Jake didn't want her to have to deal with that. That was personal.
It didn't take very long to clean things up. Luckily the damage hadn't been as bad as he feared. Mostly things were just out of place. He picked up the spilled clothing, put dresses back on their hangers, rearranged shoes back in the order that seemed right, and cleaned the makeup messages off the mirror. The broken glass from the window was swept up as well, and Jake closed and locked the shutters. He was just finishing up when Oy barked a warning. Jake listened, and heard the sound of the elevator. His hand dipped cautiously into his satchel of plates, and he stepped into the hallway to wait.
From: i_seeall Date: 07/25/2006 18:46:49
The doors opened and Babs was honestly prepared to see the worst. Doors pulled off hinges, splintered wood trailing down her hall, smashed glass, all of that. But there was none, and she couldn't find evidence of it in the immediate vincinity of the hallway. The only thing she did see was Jake.
He looked even smaller framed by the backlight of her room and the doorframe. Small, but not hurt. Not upon immediate glance, anyway. Babs moved closer to him fairly quickly, forgetting for a moment that her bedroom had been broken into. Jake was up here. Jack had been up here.
"What happened?" She asked, shaking her head almost immediately afterwards. Jake didn't deserve the pseudo-Batman voice. It would have scared most kids, and even if it didn't scare him, it still wasn't appropriate for the moment.
She tried again. "What happened? One of my alarms went off."
From: i_throwplates Date: 07/25/2006 18:56:01
The change in her voice, from one to the other, was interesting. He'd heard similar changes in Roland, as he moved between father and dinh.
"It's okay," he said. "Just a broken window. I'm fine, Oy's fine. I cleaned it up and locked the shutters."
The Oriza was left in his satchel, hands sliding into his pockets. "Downstairs? Cup of coffee? Or do you like tea?" He wasn't sure. There were both in the house, but Jake preferred the coffee when he could get some. And when orange juice wasn't practical. Damn, he had missed orange juice.
From: i_seeall Date: 07/25/2006 19:12:25
Babs shook her head again at first, peering past Jake into the room that backlit him so well. She moved around him, taking his arm gently as she did. "You didn't just trip an alarm did you...?"
She trailed off as they walked into the room. For a moment it did look as if he'd just tripped an alarm. But the broken window was quickly noticed, though there was a lack of glass smashed around. And there was a peculiar spot in the floor.
Babs eyed the floor, moving over to a very new and noticable grove in the wood. "Jake?"
From: i_throwplates Date: 07/25/2006 19:20:24
Jake wrinkled his nose. He hadn't had time to get the bullet out. "I'll fix that," he said, running a hand through his hair. "Sorry."
He nodded towards the window. "He left. Told me I was no fun, and I made him leave. But I didn't shoot him, I just shot the floor next to him so he'd know I was serious."
One hand patted the satchel of plates. "I put them away already, but figured I'd keep these just in case."
From: i_seeall Date: 07/25/2006 19:30:06
So it was a bullet. Silly of her to wish it was something else; she wasn't a fan of using bullet holes in her decorative schemes. It only reminded her of the two that remained in her old Gotham offices, the one back in her own world.
She didn't know how to feel when Jake said he hadn't shot him. So many problems could be solved with a simple bullet. And if Jake had chosen to out one through Jack's heart... well, Babs might have been able to consoul herself by saying it wasn't her fault. But she knew damn well she wouldn't be able to feel the same way about Jake.
She bit her lip for a moment, staring at the hole in the ground. "I'll have Dick get it out tomorrow." It was coming out as soon as possible. "Alright. He obviously came in through the window. Next?" Her voice had switched again slightly.
From: i_throwplates Date: 07/25/2006 19:40:51
"I'll take it out tonight," he said. His voice had softened, the words sounding both remorseful and resigned. She was upset about the bullet.
"He broke the window, and when I came in..." He really didn't want to mention the dress. Or that Jack had been in her clothing. "His mind is poison," he said instead, nose wrinkling in disgust. "It's all... twisted and sharp. I had a gun on him when I came in, and when he didn't leave right away, I shot into the floor. And he took one of your dresses, told me I was no fun, and went back out the window."
From: i_seeall Date: 07/25/2006 20:03:14
"One of my dresses?" Babs made a face. So he'd been... in her closet. She looked at the door, which didn't seem disturbed really. Though she wasn't sure she wanted to open the thing.
She turned to her dresser instead. That too looked normal and Babs couldn't help but look at Jake with some level of suspicion. She wasn't mad, just worried.
Very worried. "Jake. This is... very serious. I need to know what happened. Why did he have one of my dresses? What did he say exactly? Did he come in through the window? ...Did he leave me anything?" The Bat-voice wouldn't leave. It was softer now, but it wasn't going anywhere.
From: i_throwplates Date: 07/25/2006 20:06:48
Jake frowned, brow furrowing in confusion. "He..." Then he shook his head. "He's sick, Barbara. Why do you need to know exactly what happened? I cleaned up, I didn't think you needed to see it, since he scares you so--"
He stopped, biting his lower lip. Damn. He hadn't wanted to let on that he knew how scared she was of Jack. Especially when she tried so hard to hide it from him.
From: i_seeall Date: 07/25/2006 20:33:28
"He doesn't scare me, Jake." Nothing scared the Oracle, everyone knew that. All those who counted on her counted on her to be dependable. She didn't show any signs of weakness, which fear most certainly was. "What scares me was you were in this house alone with him and I have no idea what happened."
Babs took the staff out from under her armrest and laid it down on her bed before going over to the closet and pulling open the door. "I know he's sick, I've known it for a long time." She looked into the closet. "And I see you cleaned, but I can still see what's out of order. Looks like he had fun."
From: i_throwplates Date: 07/25/2006 20:46:19
His voice even softer, Jake looked down at his feet. "Yes he does."
He sighed. "I'm fine. Really. He doesn't scare me. He creeps me the hell out, but I'm not scared." Jake knew what it was to be scared. Jack had nothing on true fear.
"He left. He's gone. He didn't do anything to me, didn't even get close enough to touch. If he had, I would have put a bullet in his brain instead of in your floor."
From: i_seeall Date: 07/25/2006 21:14:14
That... didn't do much to reassure her. Talk of bullets in brains rarely did.
Nor did the fact that he inisted she was scared. She knew just how well lying to psychics actually worked, but that didn't stop her from wanting to try.
She looked at Jake, gesturing to the room. "I need to know, not because I really treasure and revel in the facts, but because... I just do. We have a history, and this breaks the mold. He's only come into my home once before, and I ended up with bullet holes in the floor then too."
From: i_throwplates Date: 07/26/2006 05:25:29
Jake sighed. "Alright."
And then told her everything that had happened when Jack came to call. He even added the parts he'd gleaned through the Touch, and the messages Jack had left on the mirror. He finished with how he'd cleaned everything up and put the guns away, and then leaned against the door with his arms crossed.
From: i_seeall Date: 07/26/2006 12:12:11
Given the report that she recieved from Jake, she was very glad that he'd taken the initiative to clean up after Jack's mess. She also knew that despite his well intentioned efforts, she would go back over everything. Surfaces would be scrubbed, the mirrors would be cleaned once again, and all clothes would be washed.
Suddenly she was ready to leave her room as Jake had offered before. That tea sounded good and since she wouldn't be on duty for the moment, she could take the time to enjoy it.
Maybe some food to settle her now slightly rumbling stomach.
"Come on. Downstairs." Babs started backing out of the room. "The guns are locked up, yes?"
From: i_throwplates Date: 07/26/2006 12:34:34
"Yeah," Jake said, following her out of the room. "I didn't think it'd be a good thing to have them out if any police showed up."
Not when he was eleven and so clearly home alone. If the bullet hole would have been mentioned, he would have said Jack had done it. Jake wasn't a fan of lies, but he was intelligent enough to know when they were necessary.
He glanced at her. "Are the police going to show up?" he asked. "All those alarms had to alert someone.
From: i_seeall Date: 07/26/2006 13:11:51
"I called them from Wayne Manor, told them not to show up," Babs said, hitting the button for the elevator doors to open. "I wasn't going to be responsible for anyone getting killed, you included. That's why I came home so quickly."
She moved back into the elevator, making enough room for Jake to get in as well. "You did the right thing... with the guns I mean. If they had shown up we'd both have a good deal of explaining to do right now. And with my father not here..." Babs trailed off, reaslising that Jake probably didn't know about her father.
"He's the head of the police force at home," she explained, breifly.
From: i_throwplates Date: 07/26/2006 13:33:21
Head of police? Jake furrowed his brow. But wasn't that... "Oh, right," he said, forgetting himself. "Commissioner Gordon." Barbara Gordon. That made sense.
He stepped into the elevator behind her, Oy following closely after.
From: i_seeall Date: 07/26/2006 13:46:30
Babs looked at him sharply, as she almost forgot herself as well. "Yes... that's my father." The question of 'how' was at the tip of her tongue, but Jake was a psychic, making it a stupid question.
She pursed her lips, taking a breath. "If he were here he'd have come with the team to the house. Kept them out of places like the attic, but without him I can't risk it."
From: i_throwplates Date: 07/26/2006 13:56:19
Whoops... That had been close.
Jake didn't think they would take it well to know someone was writing their stories. Pere sure hadn't, and neither had the rest of them when they found out about sai King the writer.
The man Jake had died to protect. Jake wondered if he'd written that as well. He wondered if someone else, somewhere, had read about it. Or if someone else was out there writing the things that he did now.
...Nah. Jake didn't think so. His part in the quest for the Tower was over. He could feel it.
"So what do we do instead?" he asked. "There has to be some alternative to the police."
From: i_seeall Date: 07/26/2006 14:06:36
What did they do instead? Babs couldn't necessarily answer that truthfuly, she was even hesitant about thinking it. But now that he'd asked the question the answer was firmly embedded in her mind.
They waited for Batman, Nightwing, Huntress, or Robin. And in the meanwhile they stayed calm and preferably, in the kitchen.
Babs didn't answer immediately, instead waiting until they were downstairs once more and out of the elevator. She moved straight to the burners on the stove. "We wait for friends. I might not have my father, but we have friends. And we have tea, like you suggested."
From: i_throwplates Date: 07/26/2006 14:13:32
He caught enough of what happened in her mind to know who she was waiting for. But Jake didn't remark on it.
Friends. Waiting for friends. The words were meant to comfort, he understood that, but the ache was suddenly there. Eddie. Roland. Susannah. The tet had broken before Jake had... had left that world, but he still felt it, dimly, the way a person can still feel a limb after it's been lost.
Jake slid into a seat at the kitchen table, propping his chin on his hand and looking for all the world like nothing more than an eleven year old boy who missed his friends.
From: i_seeall Date: 07/27/2006 12:02:06
Babs pulled two mugs down from her cabinets, looking back at Jake as she did so. He was sitting in a position matched practically the way she was feeling. Two dejected housemates.
It called for something soothing. She chose the chamomile tea from the other cubord and moved back over to the table, setting the sugar bowl down in front of Jake for when ever they heard the whistle of the tea kettle.
"It'll be alright after things settle down." Babs attempted a small smile. "I'm going to run diagnostics on the security systems tonight..."
From: i_throwplates Date: 07/27/2006 12:41:20
Jake blinked at her. "You know... I have no idea what that means, but I'll take your word for it."
He dropped his hand onto the table, and then rested his chin on his arm, laying across the tabletop and looking up at her. "Do you know what a dipolar computer is?"
Curiosity, really. The time to know had been back in Lud, when the Tick-Tock Man had been on the verge of killing him for that very information. But with the way histories seemed to be getting twisted... Well. You never knew.
From: i_seeall Date: 07/27/2006 13:12:58
"No idea what that means," she parroted back, still managing to smile.
Jake had never exactly shown an interest in computers before, not enough to ask her about them at least. She'd always assumed it was because he was from the 1970s when floppy disks were still five inches long. When people still used floppy disks.
Babs thought about it a moment more, before deciding that it really wasn't a computer she'd heard of before. "Why do you ask?"
From: i_throwplates Date: 07/27/2006 13:21:10
Jake shrugged, tracing circles on the tabletop with his fingers. "Someone asked me about them once." Once the paltry explaination had left his lips, he decided Babs deserved a better explaination than that.
"We were in this city once, called Lud. And the city had a lot of dipolar computers, whatever that means. The computers controlled a mono named Blaine, and the people thought Blaine was a god. Blaine had taken over the city, and a crazy guy stole me and took my digital watch, and asked me what I knew about dipolar computers because he wanted to control the computers to control Blaine."
From: i_seeall Date: 07/27/2006 17:30:12
"Mono?" Babs had the feeling it wasn't the disease teenagers usually got. Sounded like some sort of computerised robot. She'd had a few experiences with things of the type, but had never heard of dipolar computers.
That didn't bother her too much, if only because she and Jake were from two different worlds.
She considered him for a second. "Did you get out of that alright?"
From: i_throwplates Date: 07/27/2006 17:45:27
"Monorail," Jake corrected. "A weird, high-tech kind of train." A scowl touched his lips. "Blaine was a pain. Eddie killed him."
He nodded at her question. "Yeah. Oy and Roland saved me. It was the first time..."
He didn't finish. Not because he was ashamed of his first kills, but because he remembered the sense of satisfaction all too well. And he didn't want Babs to see that.
From: i_seeall Date: 07/27/2006 18:02:01
That was familiar, the monorail system. Though she'd never seen one that had the potential for evil through a computer consciousness. That actually sounded like something that was possibly more up Max's alley.
When he trailed off Babs could only look at him concernedly. It was either the story that was too much for him or the events of the night. Possibly a combination of the two.
"Shouldn't have left you home tonight," she murmured to herself just as the water on the stove started to boil and whistle. Babs moved over to stove to turn off the burners.
"Sorry." The whistle stopped and the steam went down to just a thin line. "I just forget... you've been through a lot." Like the rest of them.
From: i_throwplates Date: 07/27/2006 18:10:00
"No," Jake interjected. "I'm used to being alone. I mean, I used to be alone a lot, back when I lived with my parents."
He let out a breath, leaning back, and Oy took the opportunity to jump up into his lap. He petted the bumbler absently. "But that was before I died. Things got strange after that, but it was better." He chuckled to himself. "That just sounds weird, but it's true."
From: i_seeall Date: 07/27/2006 19:33:48
"No... I think I understand." She spoke slowly after a few moments.
She paused to prepare the tea, letting the bags steep as she set the kettle back on the stovetop. One mug then went down in front of Jake along with a spoon for the sugar bowl should he want it.
"Things were... well, not better, but--" Another halt, as she fished for the words to explain herself. "Not as bad as I thought they'd be after I was shot. There're advantages to both situations, in all cases. Even if it's... coming back to life, I guess."
from: i_throwplates Date: 07/27/2006 19:39:10
Jake shrugged and picked up his mug. A few spoonfuls of sugar went into it before he took a sip. "I died... but it brought me to Roland's world. And that was where I was alive."
More alive there than ever he had been in Manhattan.
Jake took another sip of the tea. "So that's why you don't like guns," he said, voice soft. "Sorry. I didn't really understand why before."
From: i_seeall Date: 07/27/2006 20:43:04
Babs looked down. "Yes. I didn't-- no, I didn't explain that did I?" She hadn't. She shook her head, and placed a hand on the bridge of her nose.
Jake didn't really know the first thing about Jack, yet she'd left him here. Alone. In the house, while she'd been out working.
"I was shot. Twice," she said finally. "Through the spine. Deadened, light bullets so that they'd do less damage. So I'd live, but paralysed."
From: i_throwplates Date: 07/27/2006 21:06:24
"I'm sorry..."
Jake looked at his mug. That explained a lot. A lot about the guns, a lot about her fear of Jack, and her self-inflicted misery for leaving him here alone.
"It was him, wasn't it?"
With a sigh, Jake continued. "Barbara," he said, looking up to catch her eyes. "Don't beat yourself up about leaving me alone. I might only be eleven" (or twelve. was he twelve now?) "but I'm a gunslinger. I know that might not mean a whole lot to you, but it's a really big thing for me. The Line of Arthur Eld. I do know how to take care of myself."
From: i_seeall Date: 07/28/2006 09:43:38
"Jack? Yes, it was him. Which, probably explains better why he came here. And might keep coming."
Listening to Jake she took a sip of her tea. It didn't immediately soothe her.
"I know you do, and I don't doubt that," Babs said. She didn't doubt it at all, but she'd seen too much in her life to allow that statment to calm her completely. "I don't at all, but sometimes that's not going to be enough. One on one, yes, you'll probably best him each time with your weapons, but Jack probably knows better now. He's not stupid. He won't try and go against you one on one and what's to stop him doing something like planting a bomb. Poison? Sending someone who could best you. I don't doubt your skills, but he knows people who could."
Babs paused, took a breath to reorganise her thought as she hated to have them scatter at a time like this.
"We thought we could take care of ourselves too, when we were younger, but there's always going to be someone out there who's better." She smiled sadly, thinking at once of Steph and Jason. "Even Superman's died once."
From: i_throwplates Date: 07/28/2006 15:03:44
Jake smirked. "I've died three times, Babs. I've been insane twice. I've lost two families. Seen three friends die. Been kidnapped by ruffians. Been trapped in a suicidal train that Eddie killed with dead baby jokes. Traveled over the rainbow, and even wore the ruby sneakers for the ride. I've been to the past and the future, I've saved the life of my creator, and I even traded bodies with a billy-bumbler."
Oy picked his head up when Ake mentioned him, and barked.
Jake rubbed Oy behind the ears and looked back at Babs. "There's not a whole lot of things left for me to be scared of, but I don't want to lose any more friends. So I don't intend to let you down."
From: i_seeall Date: 07/28/2006 18:30:37
She could have listed her own near death experiences. And about five other people's. Sad that she could.
But she didn't, she didn't particularly want to think about them volluntarily when she knew that these next few weeks would bring some of them very close to head indeed.
Instead she just nodded, trying to smile once more. "Thanks. It's not... well, let's just say no matter what you're not afraid of, I'll still worry about you. That's my job." She lifted her mug to her lips quickly.
From: i_throwplates Date: 07/28/2006 19:06:44
Jake was quiet for a moment. Part of him wanted to protest that it wasn't her job, that she didn't need to worry about him. There was a certain sense of family attached to those feelings.
The surprise was in realizing how little he minded that.
Jake nodded. "Okay." His own smile as he lifted his mug wasn't forced in the least.
From: i_seeall Date: 07/29/2006 11:05:59
She was glad for that, both the answer and the smile. It was easier to continue on knowing that he'd let her protect him. Harder to protect someone who didn't want it.
It spoke to their relationship as well, and as she took another sip of her tea she was glad for this one constant in her life.
"I'm going to have to go back eventually," Babs said softly, looking at the clock. "Not going to pretend that I can predict his moves, but he probably won't be back tonight. Just the same, the offer still stands. You can either sleep at the manor or here tonight."
From: i_throwplates Date: 07/30/2006 16:43:08
Jake shook his head. "I'll stay here. No offence to everyone, but a house that big still kind of makes me feel weird."
Not the house, per se, but the household and the large, unspoken secret held in all their minds. But Jake didn't want to mention that yet. It was a secret Babs still guarded much too closely.